A Double Apprenticeship
by Kitsune Uzumaki-Chan
Summary: Naruto and Sakura have been best friends since they were six. Before entering the Academy, they put up masks. (Their anime personalities) Naruto and Sakura both get bells during Kakashi's bell test and Sasuke refuses to accept their 'charity', failing the test of teamwork. The remaining duo finally drop their masks and become Kakashi's apprentices.


Kakashi stared at his two remaining Genin in shock as they stared after Sasuke's sulking self.

"Hm." Sakura looked at Naruto. "If he just accepted it, then we all would've passed!" She growled, glaring at the emo's retreating body.

"I-I know, Sakura..." Naruto blushed and looked at the ground shyly.

"So, I take it you two know the lesson of this test?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes!" Sakura cried out as Naruto nodded. "It's teamwork!"

"Correct. A deceased friend of mine once said 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who betray their friends are worse than trash.'"

"I-I-I agree with t-that, S-Sensei." Naruto smiled at Kakashi, and Sakura stuck her tongue out slightly, nodding in agreement.

"Now that that's over with, I have a question!" He eye-smiled. "What the heck happened to your personalities?!"

"Well!" Sakura yelled. "One, rude! Two, we wore masks during the Academy to end up on the same team! I was top Kunoichi and he was dead-last! Sasuke was just there!"

"Well, you two are now my apprentices! I'll see you here tomorrow at four a.m.!" With that, Kakashi shunshined to the Hokage's office.

The Jonin and Hokage stared at Kakashi. He was actually on time. Just barely, but still.

"Hello!" Kakashi smiled at everyone, so Hiruzen decided to start the meeting.

"Okay, everyone here knows why we're here! Starting with Enshi, the sensei of Team 1, we will see who passed and who failed!"

"Team 1 failed."

"Team 2?"

"Failed."

"Team 3?"

"Failed."

"Team 4?"

"Failed."

"Team 5?"

"Failed."

"Team 6?"

"Failed."

"Sensei of teams 1 through 6, you are dismissed!" The Jonin filed out of the Sandaime's office. "Team 7?"

"Two passed, one did not."

"The Haruno and the Uchiha, correct?" The two advisors standing next to the Hokage questioned.

"No, it was—"

"The Uchiha and the Uzumaki?

"—the Haruno and the Uzumaki. The Uchiha refused to accept the bell they were offering, instead going back to the Academy because he didn't want their charity. I've taken a double apprenticeship over the remaining two."

"Thank you Kakashi." The Hokage nodded to the cyclops. "Team 8?"

"Team 8 passed with all three Genin!" Kurenai sent an amused smile to Kakashi.

"Thank you. Team 10?"

"Team 10 needs some work, but all three of them passed."

"Thank you. You're all dismissed."

* * *

The next day, the three members of Team 7 met within the forest of death at 4 a.m. Two of which looked quite a bit different than they normally did; Sakura and Naruto.

Sakura was professionally extroverted clothing. That meant that her clothes were appropriate for ninja, yet outgoing at the same time. It was a two-piece gray Kunoichi outfit. The top half had spaghetti straps to hold it up at her shoulders. It cut off just below her... chest. The whole thing was tight and form-fitting, not that the 12 year old had much to show off. The bottom half was a pair of gray leggings that cut off just above the ankle. Attached to her thigh was a black weapon bag covered in seals. Her shoes were a pair of black sneakers and she had dyed the fabric of her headband gray. Her long hair was pulled into two pigtails. A black choker was around her neck with a small sakura blossom attached.

Naruto was wearing significantly more innocently feminine clothes. Everything was black, though. He was wearing a black dress that went to his knees, and undoubtedly wore shorts underneath it. It had a white collar on it. The shoes he wore were black boots. Apparently, he had dropped a henge revealing long blond hair of a lighter shade than normal. His lips were coated in a crimson lipstick that would make one believe he had drank blood. His hair was in a loose braid resting against his back. A black choker was around his neck with a small fox charm attached.

"Uh... what's with the new clothes?" Kakashi questioned his Genin.

"We _told_ you we were dropping our masks, didn't we Sensei?" Sakura's voice was condescending.

"Well, yes, but..." Kakashi cut himself off. "You know what, I don't care. Let's just start training." His smile was sinister. The screams of the two Genin, even Naruto, could be heard throughout the village.

* * *

A crossdressing blond and a pink-haired extrovert could be found walking the streets of Konoha. Villagers kindly took the time out of their day to stop and glare at the blond, making his pink-haired friend stop and glare at them.

"Um, excuse me?" She addressed the villagers as a group as her teammate squeaked and hid behind her in embarrassment. "Don't you all have something to do besides glare at my teammate? Jeez, don't tell me you don't have _jobs_! The test to become a Shinobi really is not that difficult!"

"Saku-chan!" The blond whispered to her. "You're embarrassing me!"

"No," Sakura replied to her teammate, loudly. "I'm embarrassing them, Naru-chan."

"And, in the process, you're embarrassing me!" Naruto yelled back at her, before blushing bright red and 'meep'ing.

"Aw, Naru-chan, are you coming out of your shell?" Sakura cooed, smiling brightly at the blushing boy and grabbed his hand as the continued walking. This confused the villagers watching, but they just decided to turn around with a collective sigh, resigned to the fact that they would never understand ninja.

"No!" Naruto yelled back at her, blushing wildly at the looks he received for his volume. "Just because I've stopped blushing doesn't mean I'll suddenly start going to parties or whatever it is that you do with your free time!"

"Oh, Naruto, you know _exactly_ what I do with my free time," Sakura replied, a trail of blood making it's way out of her right nostril.

"Okay, one, _ew_!" Naruto cried, a digusted look on his face. "Two, I _wish_ I _didn't_ know!"

Sakura pouted at the smaller child. "You're just jealous that I'm getting all the girls that you want, aren't you?"

"No! I don't even _like_ girls, and you know that!" Naruto sighed, embarrassed and upset. "Ugh, I can't wait 'till Panda-chan gets here for the Chunin exams."

Sakura looked Naruto's outfit up and down before giggling. "I'm sure he'll be excited to see you too." Her left nostril was gifted with a trail of blood identical to the previous one.

"Huh?" Naruto stared at her, confused, before realization washed over him and his expression became disturbed. "Gross! Ero-Saku! You know he's like a brother to me! Besides, he has a boyfriend already!"

"C'mon!" Sakura yelled, running over to Yakiniku Q. "I made you yell, so I get to pick what we eat! Hey, maybe we'll meet some of our friends from the Academy!" And didn't that just _seal the deal_. Naruto tried to run away with a 'meep', but Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him to the restaurant where every single one of the Rookie 11 was waiting. "Hey, guys!" They looked over to see a feminine child blushing and hiding behind a smiling Sakura.

"Sakura? What are you doing here? Ooh! Where's Naruto-baka and Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked, shooting the questions in a rapid fire.

"One, Sasuke didn't pass the test, he's probably in the Academy hating his life. Two, Naruto is not stupid. Three, this is Naruto!" She gestured to the feminine child behind her, making the entire group laugh.

"No way did the dobe pass and not Sasuke! Don't lie to us, Haruno!" Kiba exclaimed, making the blond behind Sakura angry. Naruto marched over to Kiba, a violent look on his face.

"Don't be mean to Saku-chan!" He yelled, pointing his finger in Kiba's face.

"Oh, really? And what are you going to do about it, sweet cheeks?" The look on Kiba's face was condescending and bored at the same time, and he couldn't see Shikamaru facepalm and mutter the word 'idiot' over his own pride.

"I-I-I..." Naruto took a moment to think before a grin of pure evil appeared on his face. "I will castrate you with a rusty spoon, perv!" Kiba snorted, the look on his face portraying disbelief.

"Like you actually would." Kiba laughed at her, confident.

Naruto pulled a rusty spoon from seemingly nowhere before kicking Kiba in the crotch with no remorse, grinning sadistically as he keened and fell over, twitching. "Wouldn't I, dog boy? _Wouldn't I_?"

Sakura laughed at the group's shell-shocked faces as Kiba picked himself up and regained his spot in between Hinata and Shino. "Naru-chan, that's enough! You can't just kick people in the crotch because they're assholes!"

Naruto whined, pouting. "But, Saku-chan! You do it! How else am I supposed to protect myself against meanies?"

Sakura ruffled his hair, laughing as he gasped and tried to fix it. "I'll protect you, Naru-chan! Don't worry!" Naruto smiled and hugged Sakura before remembering they had an audience and blushing.

"I blame you for everything!" He hissed at the pinkette before turning to face his fellow Genin with a nervous laugh. "Hi, guys." His voice was soft. "Nice to see you again."

"What?" Ino yelled. "Don't tell me you got Billboard Brow to go on a date with you! Ew!"

"Hey! Rude! I'm gay, in case you couldn't tell by the dress! Also a crossdresser, fun surprise for enemy Shinobi if I get captured..." Naruto cut himself off awkwardly. Everyone but Hinata and Shino stared at him for a moment before cracking up, though a certain eavesdropping emo ran away upon learning about Naruto's sexuality. He didn't want a fanboy. "Ero-Sasu!" The emo cursed and ran faster. Naruto uncomfortably walked back to his spot behind Sakura, hiding from their laughter.

Sakura looked at him for just one second before glowering at her fellow Genin. "Don't laugh at my little brother!"

"Haruno-san?" Shino addressed her, straight-faced, having not laughed before. "I was under the impression that you disliked Naruto."

"Yeah, but you know what?" Naruto was blushing as Sakura baited him.

"What?" This time it was Shikamaru who spoke, despite the fact that he probably knew the answer.

"You were under the impression that we were the straightest sticks ever to be made. You were wrong there too!" Sakura smiled at them, her hands tucked under her chin. "Seriously, guys, we're ninja! We lie, we cheat, we steal, we kill! Naruto and I made sure we'd be placed on the same team by doing either extremely well or extremely bad. I think you all can guess who did what. Sure, you're all ninja now, but we have been ninja since long before we entered the Academy, useless as it was. And I can tell that most of you are still acting the way you did during the Academy even though the world you're now a part of is of the philosophy 'Kill or Be Killed'. Grow up, guys. Oh, by the way, this doesn't apply to Lee, Hinata, and Shikamaru!"

"I ask a question and she rants. Troublesome." Shikamaru yawned and turned to find a table large enough to fit the Rookie 11. Naruto scampered over to stand next to him, an embarrassed yet angry look on his face.

"Shika-kun!" The taller ninja looked at the blond. "It's rude to talk about other people! Just because you're a Shinobi doesn't mean you get to completely disregard all manners!"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru yawned. Naruto glared before taking out a senbon needle and slashing it across Shikamaru's arm, leaving a shallow cut. "Wha-? Naruto!" The blond ignored him, quickly hiding the bloody needle. He smiled innocently at the shocked Genin behind them.

"Whoops! My hand slipped!" He forced an embarrassed laugh. "I'll try to be more careful! Sorry, Shika!" His voice dropped to a whisper so that only Shikamaru could hear his next two sentences. "That was your warning. Show some manners next time." He proceeded to skip casually over to a large, empty, conveniently placed table. "Hey! Guys! Come sit, we got a table!" Sakura and Shikamaru recovered quickly and sat with him, Shikamaru on his right and Sakura on his left. The other Genin took a few minutes to stare at Naruto before sitting with their teams.

"Y'know, Naru-chan, I don't think I've ever seen you have a violent outburst like that!" Sakura said, starting a conversation for no real reason.

Naruto scratched the side of his neck, embarrassed. "Well, you know, he-he was being rude!" Naruto shrunk into his seat. The lunch erupted into conversation as the Rookie 11 started getting to know each other.

* * *

"Kaka-sensei! Kaka-sensei! Can we get a C-Rank? Please?" Naruto, coming out of his shell, questioned excitedly.

"Hm, sure, why not?" Kakashi sighed, face pressed against his porn.

"Yes!" Sakura yelled.

The Hokage, who had been eavesdropping, suddenly intervened. "I'm afraid it'll have to be a joint mission with Team Ten." Said team, who had just walked in, gaped before trying to leave only to be stopped by Asuma. "You have to escort a bridge builder to Wave and protect him until he is done building his bridge." He made a vague gesture at his secretary. "Let him in!"

An old drunk man entered the office. "Hello, I am the super awesome bridge builder Tazuna and you are to protect me with your lives until I finish building my super bridge and... Where are the ninja? These are all just a bunch of super brats. Especially the short blond girl."

Naruto growled. "I'm a guy, dang it! And I'm trained better then those two!" He gestured towards Ino and Chouji, though he sent Chouji an apologetic look.

The man snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it, super twerp!" A strategically placed senbon ended up in the wall after flying between his legs, centimeters away from his crotch. A whistling Naruto had two senbon in his mouth, chewing on them. "Yeah, whatever." He left the room.

"We accept the mission Hokage-sama. Naruto, Sakura! Meet at the gate in ten minutes with your stuff packed." Kakashi eye-smiled at his team.

"We'll be there in two hours!" The two Genin chorused before walking away to Sakura's house.

Kakashi started tearing up, much to the confusion of the remaining Genin. "Oh, Asuma!" He clung to his fellow Jonin, having a mental breakdown. "They grow up so fast!"

"Team, meet at the gate in thirty minutes." Asuma and a still crying Kakashi shunshined away. Team Ten stared at one another.

Eventually, they all came to the same conclusion and voiced it together. "Team Seven is weird."


End file.
